


The Darkness Is Calling

by Fi_Vind



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Amnesia due to very tramatic memories and they're hard blocked, Any mistakes pointed out are like, Badass Kairi plus being a Distinguished Feral, But i'm doing my own headcannons, But sometimes they all collectively share a single one. Sometimes none, Destiny trio is constantly together and almost never seperate, Don't get on Kairi's bad side or she'll bring out her switchknife, Dreams, Elements of that are in here, F/M, First time posting VERY seriously, Here I am fucking up my tags cause it's now 2AM, I ain't havin' it y'all, I always have to expand shit. It's a curse, I can't really do one shots, I got some issues with how KHUX is, I kinda went off with my version of Kairi ngl, I may add more later. Idk. How do I fuckin' tag bruh, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Sorry, I'm horrific at tagging. Obviously jfc look at this WALL BRO, I'm so bad at tagging FML, I'm so sorry to the people who actually hate this I can't, I'm sorry to those who hate tag vomit. it's 12 am Central when i uploaded..., I'm super used to editing and stuff on mobile. PC is very foreign to me., Injury from a dream? is this a good tag?, It's obvious where I come from with all of this, Kairi and Riku have all the brain cells in this poly relationship, Keyblade Wielder Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Lots of angst when they come back, Lots of violence in later chapters btw, MORE tag vomit cause I can't fucking control my introverted yet feral self, Maybe sprinkles of Re:Mind, Multi, Nightmares, No beta readers cause i can't socalize fam, Other, Possible double agent villian, So be prepared for like 5k-6k or more chapters. Just warning ya, Sora has some, This story will be very VERY chonky cause I can only write consitantly, all takes place after KH3, and then ignoring everything else we don't like, fuck trying to figure out the disaster of a timeline, greatly appriciated, we out here taking canon we enjoy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:01:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22646824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fi_Vind/pseuds/Fi_Vind
Summary: Dreams can be weird and feel real at times. That's normal. Where they feel so real you become disoriented when you wake up? That... isn't exactly normal and kinda bad.Dreams where you wake up with injuries that you got in the dream? Yeah. That isn't normal.Her dreams hadn't been too weird lately. That is until her dreams are suddenly of a dark place, weird creatures with glowing eyes and then the injuries began. After a series of events, Dakota decides to try and figure out what is even causing her to have these dreams in the first place...But maybe she should of confided in those closest to her first before running off on her own and ending up on a journey of a lifetime. Maybe.
Relationships: Sora/Kairi/Riku, Vanitas/Original Female Character
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	The Darkness Is Calling

**Author's Note:**

> So if you're reading this, despite all the tag vomit, you decided to give this a read. Nice.  
> I'm still learning to write currently, and still not the greatest.  
> Edit as of 4/28/20: Well damn this didn't take an entire FUCKIN year to do didn't it? Decided to clean this chapter up cause I was n o t happy with how it was previously. At all. Currently working on the second chapter and idk how long it'll be since it took me days to fix this one. I've also been, low key having some shitty mental health going on (mostly due to quarintine.) cause of all the crap going on and constantly worrying about my parents possibly getting the virus due to their jobs. So... yeah. 
> 
> If you actually enjoyed this, then I'm glad! If there's anything I should tag, add or fix up in the chapter, let me know!

_The surrounding area was dark, nearly pitch black. It was difficult to even see anything. The dim, silver glow of the moon helped a bit. Sorta._

_The sky was dark, the stars shining with the moon high up in the sky. Almost as if it were midnight. Strange, dark spikes were growing out of the ground, some were tall with several other smaller spikes along its sides, others were short and sleek. The tips appeared to be razor-sharp. Two of the largest ones made an archway in the water, the tips curling to frame the moon._

_The sound of slightly shifting sand echoed across the empty, moonlit beach. A person stepped out from the darkness. She walked a bit farther, a bit unsettled at her surroundings. Cyan eyes looked around, confused as she had her hands clenched loosely into fists at her side._

_She felt like she was being watched..._

_Looking around, she tried to make sense of everything she was looking at. She also took note of how the sand was so darkly colored, never seeing such before. Or... could be the light of the moon making it seem dark? She shook her head, taking a few steps forward, then stopped. She frowned._

_An odd feeling was starting to creep up and she didn't like it._

_"What is this place?" The teen muttered, frowning. Eyes darted around, taking note of things that stood out. It could be pointless, if none of this ended up being remembered when waking up._

_"Am I… dreaming? I must be. So… how did I even get here then?" Looking around more only made her more and more confused. This place was odd. It would have been just a simple rocky beach if it weren't for the creepy (and quite hazardous looking) spikes scattered around. She looked toward the water, noticing quickly it looked almost the same as the islands she knew like the back of her hand. The way the waves moved and all, well, except for the large spikes and many rocks scattered around._

_Where the water continuously crashed against the dark sand, something could be seen. It was stabbed into the sand to keep it from being washed away._

_"What… is that?" She asked out loud. She couldn't tell what it was or anything. As she began making her way towards the item, the area suddenly began to darken. The teen stopped, freezing in place as the bit of light that was around suddenly faded away._

_On edge with flight or fight responses kicking in, the teen's eyes were wide as she whirled around. What was going on?!_

_The area continued to darkened more and more until only the strange object could be seen. Looking back at it, it looked to be some sort of weapon with an odd looking blade. Before she could even wonder what it was or anything, she suddenly flinched, a hand flying up to her chest where her heart was. Fingers digging into her nightshirt._

_"Wh- what? Why?" She muttered, confused. None of this helped with how on edge she felt. Her chest… why did it suddenly feel... weird? Like it hurt? She couldn't place a finger on it. Was it even hurting?_

_An image-no. No, not an image, several images of the weapon suddenly flashed through her mind. The teen gasped, shaking her head to try and clear them. Trying to get her thoughts in order. It didn't help as more suddenly flooded her mind and vision at the same time. Some of the same dark beach she was at, or of areas plagued by strange, dark creatures._

_Spikes…? Like the ones in the water..._

_Towers of… something. She didn't see enough to really figure it out. All she knew is they moved._

_Something dark with eerie, glowing yellow eyes. It sent chills up her spine and kicked her Flight response in high gear. Some of the creatures were large, almost monstrous. Some were more frightening than others. That really did it._

_The images kept going back and forth, some flashing multiple times and repeating over and over._

_"Make… it... stop!" The teen barely managed to whisper. Her head was pounding. She had her eyes shut, gritting her teeth and hands grabbing at her hair._

_She couldn't tell what was going on. What was happening. Everything soon stopped._

_A single door was all that she could see then._

_“...Way to Dawn…”_

\---

A startled and somewhat loud noise left the teen's lips as her eyes snapped open. She bolted up with a short, raspy gasp, her eyes wide as she shuddered. She took a few, deep breaths to try and calm herself down.

Reaching up, she gripped her hair tightly, trying to make sense of the nightmare that was already quickly escaping her grasp.

She took a few seconds to try and stop her mind from spinning, feeling it ache just slightly from how hard she was gripping her hair. After a bit, she frowned, lips barely parted and eyebrows knitted slightly together in confusion as she let go of her hair as she felt like she could finally think clearly now.

Although that didn't do any good as she could barely remember a single thing from the nightmare. She took a minute or two to get up and pace around her room a bit to try and think, but the only thing she could think of was going back to sleep.

Well that was certainly helpful...

Climbing back into bed, the teen sighed, laying back down and pulled the covers up to her neck, exhaustion suddenly hitting her as soon as her head touched her pillow. She could barely try and think of a simple thing.

She soon closed her eyes, falling back asleep. As she did, the pale rays of the very early sun casted their glow around the room.

\---------

_With so little time to react as the small amount of momentum she built up from trying to run was broken. She skidded across the ground, slamming into a rock._

_She looked up and scrambled to get out of the way of the massive swarm of glowing eyes that slammed down in the spot she was just in._

_There were smaller ones everywhere. She didn't know what to do as the swarm surrounded her._

_She barely managed to scream, flailing around a bit. It… it was like she was underwater? But it didn't feel the same. It was slow, and felt like it was clinging to her skin and clothes. Her hair. It was hard to move. She felt pain in her arm as if claws were digging into it. Deep and winding the entire way down to her wrist._

_Her eyes searched for some way out but there was none. It was completely dark…_

She flinched and her eyes snapped open. She was laying on her side this time, gripping her bedsheets in a death grip. Her breathing was ragged as once again, the dream quickly evaded her thoughts as if water whirling down a drain.

Why couldn't she-

“Honey? Are you okay?” A voice asked, sounding very concerned. The teen blinked, looking up to see her mother who looked very concerned. The teen took a deep breath and sat up, letting it out slowly.

“I'm… I'm fine. Please don't worry. It… was a really strange nightmare is all.” The teen sighed. When it looked like her mother was about to say something, she shook her head.

"I actually can't even remember it." She frowned.

"Nothing?" The woman asked. The teen shook her head. It was a bit of a lie, well, mostly. All she could remember were the glowing eyes and that tower thing. Everything else eluded her...

"Alright. But if you do remember and need to talk about it, just know you can talk to me or your father. Right?" The woman said, green eyes gentle. The teen nodded, a faint smile on her lips.

"I know." The teen nodded a bit. "I can't remember any of it now. I may remember a bit later."

“Alright.” The woman said. "You're brother is still getting ready for school and dad is cooking breakfast."

“Alright, Mom.” The teen said, getting cut short by a yawn. The woman nodded with a small smile and left the room. The teen sighed, frowning as she tried to think of what the nightmare was even.

\----X---

A few minutes later, the teen stood at the top of a staircase, now dressed in a school uniform. She smoothed out the plaid skirt a bit, frowning then reached for the similar patterned tie that came with the outfit. She fiddled with it a bit and with the shirt as well. She always hated how the school uniform felt on her. It just felt so out of place.

She walked down the stairs, heading straight to the kitchen.

“Morning.” she said, doing her best to sound cheerful. She wasn't about to let some stupid dream sour her mood… School did a better job at it. She did a quick glance around, seeing her mother sitting at the table and her father at the stove but her brother wasn't anywhere to be seen.

“Hey? Where's my dorky big bro at?” The teen asked as she sat down in her usual chair.

“He's outside waiting for you." Mother said as she picked up her plate.

"Oh great. I'm the late one again." The teen sighed, her tone lighthearted.

"Seems like it. Like Father, like Daughter." Her mother smiled a bit.

“Har har." Her father rolled her eyes but he was smiling.

"You guys are such goofballs." The teen laughed a bit as she was about to stand up before a plate of chocolate chip pancakes were placed on the table. She quickly pulled it towards her.

"Hey, those were mine." Her father frowned.

"...And you just said 'were'" The teen snickered a bit, cutting up the pancakes with a fork.

"Besides, don't you hate chocolate chip pancakes?" She asked, looking around for the syrup.

"Well after I tried a bite I probably would of liked them. I guess I'll just eat some lemon bars for breakfast." Her father shrugged as he began moving to the fridge. The teen laughed a bit.

"I guess. Sorry for taking your breakfast though." The teen said, smiling sheepishly as she got up to look for the syrup.

"It's fine. It was yours anyway." Her father smiled. The teen paused for a moment before she laughed a bit, which only grew as her father handed her the syrup.

"Thanks you guys." She smiled as her father lightly ruffled her hair. She sat back down.

Okay… maybe I can test my luck.

"So…" She began. "Think I could take the plate with me this time? I don't want to end up late."

“You aren't taking the plate with you..” Mother said as she shuffled around the kitchen, putting things back where they were or putting dishes in the sink.

"Dad?" The teen looked over to see her Father leaving the kitchen.

"Ask your mother." He said as he disappeared from view. The teen huffed.

"Well I got betrayed. And hey, I did leave it with your neighbors. I brought it safely back." She said in a matter of factly tone. She covered her pancakes in a reasonable amount of syrup.

"After they brought it back when you forgot." Mom said. She chuckled a bit. "Just leave it in the sink, okay? You don't need to give yourself a stomach ache trying to rush."

"Alright." The teen muttered. Her mother finished up cleaning up,and left the kitchen as well. Most likely to get ready for work.

Waiting a few seconds, she got up, heading to the counters and climbed up. Opening the cabinet door, she looked around and grabbed a can of whipped cream along with a leftover bag of small chocolate chips. After grabbing the two items she hopped down. Putting a good amount of whipped cream onto the already sweet enough pancakes. She debated on if adding more chocolate chips was worth it… Then decided the possible tooth decay wasn't. She left the items on the table, not wanting to waste anymore time.

She was probably going to get caught either way. Might as well make the best of it.

“I'm heading out!” The teen called out as she walked quickly to the door, plate of pancakes in one hand, grabbing her school bag with the other. She raced out of the house before her parents could shout out their goodbyes, closing the door behind her. She was about to walk further, sticking a forkful of chocolate pancake into her mouth, but stopped in her tracks soon enough.

Her brother was staring right at her, an eyebrow raised and arms crossed. She couldn't tell if he was questioning why she was holding an entire plate in her hands or if he was slightly upset with how long she took.

"...Riku… don't say anything..." Dakota muttered around the fork, starting to move again as she walked right past him. He soon followed.

“Why are you carrying an entire plate with you?” Riku asked. The teen, Dakota, inwardly sighed as she took the fork out of her mouth.

“First, we don't have time. At least, I think so. I'm not gonna be late again or drag you down with me." Dakota said, shoving another forkful into her mouth. “Second, easier to eat on the go, obviously." She muttered.

After a few minutes of idle back and forth chatter, the two fell into comfortable silence as they continued their trek to school. Dakota was chewing the tips of the fork, lost in thought. The plate had been shoved into her bag just moments ago. It was probably messing up whatever she had in there, but it shouldn't be too bad. Her papers had been through much worse really. Once, she spilled an entire can of soda on her school papers once.

That cost her a good chunk of her grades...

She kept walking, her mind at first thinking of what she was going to be doing at school. But then the nightmare from last night decided to finally rear its ugly head around and in full detail. It kept replaying in her head over and over as she frowned, pausing her chewing.

_“What was that nightmare?”_ Dakota thought as she frowned, still chewing the fork. It was still fuzzy in some parts, but others she remembered clearly. What was that dark place? The beach… it was so similar to the ones here. Yet those spikes and the monsters..?

Dakota sighed lightly, removing the fork from her mouth, she frowned deeply. She wanted to try and figure that nightmare out. But where to start? Why did she even have it? Dreams were odd like that but…

She was probably overthinking it. Yeah. That's what it was. But, the other thing that confused her was that weapon she saw.

_“Maybe... I can talk to Riku about it? But he'd probably think I'm being paranoid if I did. It was such a stupid nightmare in the end. Everything will be fine, get a grip...”_ Dakota thought as she shook her head. Her eyes caught sight of the school in the distance. She opened her bag to throw the fork inside, pausing when she noticed Riku looking at her. Seeing him looking at her with a look of barely concealed concern on his face…

She also noticed they had stopped walking. And she was now a few steps behind him.

"What? Sorry. I just… got lost in thought is all." Dakota said, tossing in the fork and closing her bag.

"Are you okay? You were staring into space for awhile." Riku frowned a bit.

"Uh…" Dakota said, pausing. Maybe she should tell him now? Probably. It would be better than waiting…

"Well-"

“Riku! Dakota!”

The two looked over to where the energetic voice came from, seeing the school up head. Sora and Kairi were standing by the entrance, both waving to them. Dakota looked back at Riku and shook her head, plastering a convincing smile on her face.

"I'm fine," Dakota said. "Don't worry alright? If anything is wrong I'll tell you later." She didn't wait for a response, beginning to walk over to Sora and Kairi.

\--------x------

Dakota sighed internally as she tuned out the teacher. Well, she didn't mean to but… class. was. so. boring!

Briefly scanning the classroom, she saw Kairi looking equally bored but at least was attentive. Enough to not get in trouble or anything. Dakota always wondered how she did it...

Dakota decided to try and think of other things, mostly doodling on the worksheet she and the rest of the class were given. Though this wasn't enough and she soon folded her arms on top of her desk. She then rested her chin on them, then her head. It didn't take long for her to end up falling asleep, everything fading.

-X-

_"Where am I?"_

_Again, another odd place..._

_Her Footsteps echoed through the wide and chaotic looking area. The darkness didn't help her nerves nor did the scattered dark rocks that floated in the empty space around. The odd glowing blue cracks in them helped light the place up. Kind of._

_That was comforting at least. She picked up one or two much smaller ones out of curiosity. They were like glowing, cracked pebbles._

_With each step she took, she felt like she was getting more and more lost however. She didn't know where she was going or anything. All she knew currently was to keep following this odd feeling she was getting. It was like she was being pulled to go a certain way..._

_"Hello…?" Dakota called out. She knew it was kind of stupid to do that, but what else could she do right now? She didn't know what to do._

_She paused to try and get her bearings when she heard some sort of… noise? She stayed quiet and listened._

_There it was again._

_Dakota looked behind her, confused and curious at what the noise was. Something was moving…? She turned around fully and narrowed her eyes, frowning a bit. She saw some sort of… thing moving on the ground? The moving things soon rose from the ground, glowing yellow eyes stared back at her._

_Dakota's eyes widened. "Shit…" she muttered under her breath as she whirled around and fled, sprinting as fast as she could._

_Dakota continued running, pocketing the glowing rocks. She pulled out her switchblade, she saw one of the yellowed eyed creatures lunge for her. She flicked the blade out and swung, the confident,smirk that began rising on her face soon turned to a look of shock and mild panic as the blade did absolutely nothing. In Fact it just harmlessly ran across the creature's body._

_"What the fuck is this thing?" She whispered as she swung her fist at it, hoping she knocked it away before looking in front of her again as she ran. She came to a halt, skidding and barely keeping herself upright._

_How did they get in front of her?!_

_She tried to back up, now afraid as one of the creatures jumped toward her, claws outstretched. She raised her arms to shield her face from the attack. She cringed, feeling pain in one of her hands._

_How was she going to get out of this?_

_"Find the door…"_

_"What…?" Dakota muttered, confused. What was that voice?_

_"Find the door. Find the key."_

_The creatures disappeared. Dakota frantically looked around._

_"You must-"_

_"What do you mean by a key? Who are you?" Dakota asked. Her question went unanswered._

_"Find it!" The voice yelled. Before Dakota could ask anything else, the area faded as well as the voice._

Dakota's head shot up at hearing the bell, eyes wide as she attempted to process the dream she just woke up from.

"W-what?" Dakota muttered, eyes darting around as she saw students gathering things and leaving the class as they chatted quietly to friends or so. She got up, quickly grabbing her book bag, slinging it over her shoulder. Her free hand was clenched into a tight fist.

She didn't like how sticky it felt. That was making her worried.

And not to mention... that dream felt a bit too real. Much too real. Like she was actually there.

She felt a bit nauseated…

Dakota sped walked to the door and out into the hall, heading for the girls bathroom. As soon as she entered, she went straight to one of the sinks. Kairi was leaning against the wall outside the classroom door, seeing Dakota practically run to the bathroom.

Kairi frowned and stood up, heading to where Dakota entered.

_"It was just a dream, right? I only got hurt in the dream."_ Dakota thought as she stared at her fist, holding it over the sink. She looked down to see red dots appearing in it. She shook her head, convinced it was. It couldn't be real...

But she had to figure out why her hand was hurting so badly. Slowly, she opened her hand, turning it over to look at her palm.

Her eyes widened at the sight of a large gash. It wasn't deep enough for the bone to be seen. But it was still pretty deep… and bleeding pretty badly as well. Clenching her fist only managed to smear blood all over her palm and fingers, some was under her fingernails. She quickly cupped her other hand over her injured one so the blood didn't end up dripping into the sink.

"What the _fuck_?" She whispered, reaching over and turned the faucet on. She quickly placed her hands under the stream of water, wincing as the water ran over the gash.

"Just have to wash it and it'll be fine." She muttered as she quickly got to work to wash the blood from her hands, focusing on her wounded one more. She gritted her teeth to keep herself from making any noise as the soap just made everything hurt even more. She was too focused on cleaning it to hear the bathroom door open and close.

"Dakota? Is everything alright?" Kairi asked as she looked over at Dakota's hands, frowning in worry. Dakota nodded as she made sure all the blood was gone before trying to remove her hand.

"Uh… Yeah. I'm fine, don't worry Kai. I just got some weird stuff on my hand." Dakota shrugged. "It's almost all off really. I think it's some gum someone left on my desk."

"That… that doesn't look like gum though." Kairi said, walking closer to get a better look. Her eyes widened as she took a step back. That wasn't gum.

"How did your hand get so hurt?" Kairi asked, concern clear in her voice as she stared at Dakota's hand, more importantly her injured one. The gash was pretty serious looking...

"It's- uh… look, I just accidentally cut it with my switchblade. It happens sometimes, remember?" Dakota managed to give a small smile, turning the water off with her non-injured hand. She quickly grabbed a couple of paper towels, drying her hands and pressing them to the gash.

She did her best to hide how scared she was really. She just hoped she didn't need stitches…

God did she hate stitches...

"At least go to the nurse, Dakota. That isn't any little cut. That's really serious..." Kairi looked up at Dakota. That wasn't any other switchblade wound.

And they never looked as jagged as that...

"They'll just tell me to keep the paper towels on it until I can go to the hospital or whatever. Or that I'd need stitches." Dakota shook her head as she threw away the paper towels she ahd and grabbed a new one, pressing it back to the gash.

Kairi pressed her lips into a thin line, looking like she was thinking of something as she walked over, grabbing a paper towel.

"Damn it…" Dakota muttered as she removed the paper towels, cringing at the amount of blood on them. Why was she still bleeding? Shouldn't it stop at some point? She threw them in the trash, reaching for more when Kairi suddenly grabbed her injured hand.

"Look just be careful alright? You don't know how bad it might get." Kairi said as she practically dragged Dakota out the bathroom.

"Wh- I know." Dakota frowned. "But-"

"And I won't tell Riku." Kairi said as she kept walking. Dakota frowned in confusion. She wasn't going to mention Riku but yeah, that would suck if he found out. It would also suck if her parents found out. Kairi was suddenly talking a lot. And a bit fast to where Dakota had a hard time keeping up. She decided to stay quiet and listen.

She blinked, eyes narrowing. Why did her hand not hurt as much anymore…?

"Uh, Kai-"

"There's my class." Kairi said, sounding chipper as she let go of Dakota's hand. Dakota blinked in confusion as she watched Kairi wave at her, then disappear into her classroom.

She stood there for a few seconds before the bell snapped her out of her thoughts. She shook her head and headed for her class.

She did find it really weird how her hand no longer hurt or anything...

\-----X-----

"She what?" Riku and Sora asked in sync, both looking concerned and surprised, eyes widened slightly.

Sora, Kairi and Riku sat together outside. As soon as they took a seat at their usual spot under a tree, Kairi began talking about what happened earlier.

"Yeah. She ended up with a cut on her palm like-" Kairi said, holding up her hand and showing her palm. She traced a jagged line with her finger from the top to near her wrist. "-that."

"I don't know how she got it. But… I may have a clue. So, when she was asleep, there weren't any objects around for her to suddenly cut herself up like that. And she didn't accidentally cut herself with her switchblade either." Kairi frowned. "I haven't seen anyone cut themselves with a switchblade like that."

"So…what you're saying is that she could have gotten it from that dream?" Sora asked. Kairi nodded.

"But how exactly? Dakota doesn't even have a connection to the sleeping realm like you, me and Sora…" Riku frowned, shaking his head. "It doesn't make sense. It has to be something else."

"But what exactly is the question." Sora frowned, resting his cheek on his hand.

"Dunno. But if anything else like this happens, we need to keep an eye out for it." Kairi said. Sora and Riku agreed.

Soon, days passed after the incident at school. She thought that would be it. That they'd stop.

But it didn't. The nightmares hadn't been getting any better for Dakota, and they only kept getting worse. Soon she was lying awake for the rest of the night from them, unable to sleep until the sun rose and she felt safe. Or, she woke up in cold sweats, breathing ragged and mind in disarray in an attempt to cling to whatever she saw in those dreams. Each time they slipped through her fingertips like smoke, the only things she would remember were the piecing yellow eyes of the creatures that would chase her.

One nightmare in particular she ended up with a cut along her jaw. When asked about it, she claimed it was from falling on something as during some point in her sleep she did end up falling out of bed. She didn't have any objects in her room that would have caused such an injury however. It was becoming a vicious cycle, one she wanted to break soon.

Dakota sat in her room at her desk, fiddling with a small bracelet. She turned to bracelet making whenever she was feeling upset or just to try and relax. She didn't try to bring up what the dreams were about to anyone, worried about what they'd say. Glowing yellow eyes, mangled looking claws and towers of darkness. She wrote them down in a journal she kept, she sometimes tried to sketch what she could remember about how they looked like.

She sighed, sounding frustrated as she placed the bracelet down and stood up. Crafting wasn't working, taking walks, nothing of the usual things she did were working.

She frowned. This wasn't something she could do on her own… she really someone to talk to about this. She didn't want to try talking to her parents about this, not feeling comfortable enough for that yet. She left her room, heading out into the hallway and towards a door at the end. Dakota knocked on it a few times, then waited. The door opened, Riku standing there.

"Hey." Riku said.

"Hey." Dakota said. "Can I come in?"

"Sure." Riku stepped aside and Dakota nodded, walking past him. He noticed the frustrated look in her eyes and he frowned lightly.

"Are you alright?" Riku asked as he closed the door. Dakota paused, standing in the middle of the room. She then sighed, her shoulders sagging a bit.

"Sorry. It's… just… I've been having these really weird dreams lately." Dakota frowned as she sat down on the floor, soon laying down and staring at the ceiling.

"What kind of dreams?" Riku asked, walking over and sitting down next to Dakota.

"I… don't know really. They're just… weird. And creepy. They're more nightmares honestly." Dakota huffed, frowning. "I hardly remember them whenever I wake up, like smoke in the wind if that makes sense."

"Interesting comparison." Riku said. "What do you remember though? Or what do you see?"

"Asking the important questions as always." Dakota chuckled lightly. She sighed and thought for a moment… "Well... I mostly see these glowing yellow eyes. These… things also. They move weird and blend in with the surroundings. It's always in this really dark place too, they also have these weird mangled claws also." Dakota said. "Not to mention these… big, moving towers." She made a gesture, trying to mimic how they possibly moved but gave up.

"Yellow eyes? Moving towers?" Riku asked, his eyes slightly widening. She couldn't be describing- no. He was just overthinking things.

"Yeah. It's all really weird." Dakota said, frowning.

"What did the moving towers look like?" Riku asked. Dakota shrugged.

"Dunno. All I know is that they probably glowed or something. I don't know why I keep having these nightmares." Dakota sighed. "But… they'll probably pass soon enough though. Right?"

"Well… probably. What else do you remember?" Riku asked. Dakota frowned and closed her eyes, thinking. Trying to remember anything. After a few seconds, she opened them and sighed.

"Nothing but what I described really. I also remember a voice, but it's pointless to mention it. I never remember what it says." Dakota huffed. She felt like some weight had been lifted off her shoulders, at least a little bit. She felt a bit better too.

"If you get any more dreams like that, just tell me. Alright?" Riku asked. He didn't want to make assumptions… but… what was just said concerned him greatly.

Dakota nodded and smiled at him.

"Thanks Riku."

He returned the smile.

He was over thinking things. Everything was fine.

\---X---

Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into a month. The dreams kept coming and turning more terrifying or confusing as well. She resigned to having her journal and a pen at arms length in some attempt to make more sense of them when she looked over them again. In a haze of half asleep half awake, she would write whatever she could about her dream before falling into a state of restlessness.

Dakota frowned slightly, standing in front of her locker with a blank look on her face. She was tired. She wasn't able to get any sleep the night before. And the night before that. She somehow kept herself up in her classes today.

As she closed her locker, someone bumped into her harshly from behind. She looked to see another student walking away. Dakota frowned a bit and shook her head.

"Asshole…" Dakots muttered as she began heading to the front doors, exiting the school. The day was winding down and school was ending.

"Okay… where to wait until the others get out of detention..." She muttered to herself. As she looked around, she flinched as she was suddenly hit by a small pebble in the side of her head. Her head turned towards the direction it came from and saw the same student from earlier. Dakota sighed as she walked over.

"Dude, what the fuck do you want?" Dakota frowned.

"A fight." The boy said. Dakota deadpanned.

"...really?" Dakota asked, not sure if he was serious.

"I'm serious. Are you gonna chicken out?" The boy smirked. Dakota sighed, resisting the urge to pinch at the bridge of her nose.

"Look, I'm… a bit tired. Some other day outside of school if you're so eager to do so." Dakota huffed. She turned to leave, muttering something. She did not expect the punch to the back of the head, making her stop, a hand flying up to the spot. She whirled around. Seeing the utterly smug and confident look on the boy's face after a sucker punch like that…

Her eyes narrowed as she hissed.

"Okay. Fine then. If it'll get your stupid ass off my back." Dakota hissed as she practically threw her bookbag down. She was already irritable due to lack of sleep and this was one of the final straws.

"Use your fist and feet only. Use anything else and I'll do the same thing, got it?" Dakota said, hands clenched into fist.

"Agreed." He smirked. That fucking smirk… "Would you like a crowd or not? I would love to have one witness the great Dakota get her ass handed to her by me."

Dakota rolled her eyes. "Whatever you need to boost your fragile little ego, buddy. Now shut up, and get ready to be silenced." She then swung the first punch.

"So... what should we do? Go to the play islands? Eat at home? What?" Sora asked.

"Dunno. What do you guys really wanna do?" Riku asked.

"What I really wanna do is get more of those lemon squares and chicken soup you guys have." Kairi smiled, a bit giddy.

"You always do." Riku said.

"Hey. You can't blame me. Your dad is a really freaking good cook." Kairi snickered.

"Now that you mention it, I could really go for some lemon squares, Kai." Sora smiled.

"Exactly!" Kairi giggled. "Glad I'm not the only one who's hungry."

"You guys are going to eat all of our food before we even know it." Riku chuckled as he ruffled Sora and Kairi's hair.

"Well before eating, we have to serve detention." Kairi said, sighing lightly.

"Why'd you get detention with us anyway, Ri?" Sora asked, looking over at Riku.

"Cause. I knew you two dorks would end up getting lonely without me." Riku said.

"Aww… we're too lucky, aren't we Sora?" Kairi giggled, wrapping her arms around Riku.

"Yep." Sora smiled, doing the same. Riku sighed, smiling. He really did love these two dorks so much.

Outside, a crowd had gathered, watching the fight that was taking place. Some had tried to stop the fight, but had failed. The boy kept pushing all of Dakota's buttons, who was now more determined to keep the fight going now. Half went to go search for hall monitors while the other half stayed and watched from a distance as they cheered for either combatant, yelling all sorts of things. The area was a buzz and the air was thick with tension on who would win and get knocked out.

Dakota jumped back from a kick, hissing. She didn't know how long it had been since the fight started. The boy didn't waste any time jumping in for another hit, keeping up his momentum as Dakota did the same, ready to attempt and do an uppercut that would possibly do something. She couldn't lose.

She managed to do an uppercut, but the boy ducked and it missed. Before she could do anything else, blinking once, twice, and the image of… something flashed before her eyes. It gave her pause, wondering what the hell that was. A trick of the brain? Whatever it was, it left her vulnerable and the last thing she saw was a fist flying toward her face.

Dakota gasped, falling to the ground with a groan. Her eyes were closed as a hand was clutching her nose, eyes watering a bit and her nose was hurting...

"Holy fuck! She actually got knocked down! She isn't on top anymore!" A girl said.

"Looks like she's second again." Someone said.

"What the… what is going on out here!?" A voice yelled.

"It's a teacher! Scram!" A student yelled.

The crowd was quick to separate, running in all directions and out of school. The teacher glared, taking a note of how many students needed to give reports on what exactly happened.

Their eyes drifted over to Dakota, who was the only one left. Still stunned by the loss as she picked herself up off the ground. She looked around, seeing that she was the only other one around, except for the teacher that was marching over with a glare.

"Fuck…" Dakota muttered.

\----X----

"She what?"

"Yep." The student nodded, looking a bit smug but otherwise calm. "I saw it all from a distance, Mrs. Hoshi. It was pretty… interesting."

Hoshi frowned and sighed. "Thank you for bringing her back home safely."

"No problem. We were happy to do so. Have a good afternoon." Another student said with a smile. The two students walked away, chatting to themselves as Hoshi closed the door. Dakota was quietly making her way towards the stairs, placing a hand on the banister-

"Don't go upstairs yet. Dakota, you know we need to talk-" Hoshi began.

"What's there to even talk about?" Dakota frowned, gripping the banister tightly, feeling… A mixture of emotions. Mostly embarrassed at how she… just got defeated so easily. How she just let it happen with no fight. "I got in some dumb fight, suspended for… however how long. It's all said and done, mom. Nothing to talk about."

"Why did you even get into one in the first place? You know you can't just fight everyone and anyone." Hoshi sighed. She was hoping her ungodly talent of getting into fights didn't pass down to her children…

"Look. I tried to leave before anything did happen. He punched me in the back of the head. Look at all the bruises he left!" Dakota frowned, gesturing to mostly her face. It wasn't anything too terrible, some bruises and small cuts. They were going to be visible until it started healing. "I barely even managed to get a scratch on him..."

How could she not even get a hit on him? Was she too tall now? Too slow? What? She really couldn't tell what to feel anymore as she tried to get her thoughts in order.

Hoshi slightly chewed at her lip, worried. What could she say? She didn't want to end up saying something, make everything worse.

"Dakota-" Hoshi began, but paused. She struggled to figure out what to say. What could she say that wouldn't end up being some typical dumb parent spiel…?

"What's going on?" Hoshi looked over to see her husband walk into the room. She inwardly sighed.

"I got in a fight at school." Dakota frowned, resigning to sit on one of the stairs.

"A fight?" Her father frowned, heading to the couch and sitting down.

"Yeah." Dakota muttered.

"Detention or-" her father began, getting cut off when Hoshi walked over and lightly swatted him on the shoulder.

"Maybe not the best time, Andre." Hoshi muttered. Dakota fought the urge to roll her eyes at her parents, moving to sit on the stairs instead.

"Well I got suspended. I don't know for how long though." Dakota frowned. She didn't get why SHE was the only one getting in trouble.

"What's stupid is the guy that hit me first, who provoked me by punching the back of my head and started the entire fight... He did all of this to me and I'm pretty sure he got away completely free!" Dakota hissed. "It's- just-"

"Dakota, I get it." Andre said. Dakota shook her head.

"Probably." Dakota muttered. She was tired of trying to skirt around everything as she scoffed.

"I guess I should just let him get away with it and keep my mouth fucking shut. That's all they probably want me to-"

"Language." Hoshi said, trying to sound as gentle as possible. She opened her mouth to say something but the look that crossed Dakota's face made her pause.

Of course she had to say the wrong thing...

"Fuck language." Dakota hissed. Her frustration had hit its peak. She was tired, angry, just, everything!

"I might as well end up fucking leaving the Islands entirely. Bet no one would miss me or anything." Dakota growled a bit.

"Dakota!" Hoshi and Andre were shocked.

"What? It's true. I bet you two wish for that the-"

"You know that isn't true Dakota." Hoshi frowned.

"So what? It doesn't have to be true or anything for you to still wish it. I wish I could just disappear or something. Be lost in that dark place I keep dreaming about!" Dakota snapped, not realizing how loud she had gotten. As she was about to say something else, she paused at seeing the looks on her parents faces…

...oh… god… what did she just say…!

As she realized what she just said, practically wishing, she had a choice of trying to backpedal and failing. Or running.

Dakota took a step back, seeing either of her parents attempt to move she whirled around and raced up the stairs, ignoring anything her parents possibly said as she ran to her room. She shut the door behind her, almost slamming it closed. She locked it, placing her hands on it as she stared at the floor. Everything else she felt earlier had evaporated, turning into cold, hard regret…

She didn't dare leave her room for anything, ignoring her parents and her brother when they knocked, asking questions or attempts to get her to come downstairs for dinner. She didn't have the heart to face any of them after earlier, resigning to head to bed earlier than she usually did.

"I wonder what I'll end up dreaming about tonight…" Dakota sighed, closing her journal and placing it on her nightside table, placing a pen on top of it. She laid down, closing her eyes.

\-----X-----

_Dakota blinked her eyes open, confusion quickly blanketing her as she slowly looked around._

_"What…? Where?" She muttered. Looking down, she saw a large circular platform that was made entirely out of stained glass. Or, she guesses it was with how colorless it was. The whole thing was a mixture of white with grey outlining circles that were blank, no symbols or anything._

_Dakota rubbed her head, frowning as she took in her surroundings. This has to be the weirdest, but, calmest dream she had yet._

_So much to do yet, so little time..._

_Dakota jumped at the voice, whirling around._

_"Who…?" She muttered, jumping again. Reaching up to her neck. This was weird. She could hear her voice…? She said, or, tried to say a few things but, no. She actually couldn't hear her voice._

_We must not be too quick yet too slow._

_Do not be afraid…_

_A low rumble echoed across the space as three pillars suddenly appeared up from the ground. A sword, shield, and staff appeared on them._

_The door… it has been closed for so long._

_Will you be the one to open it once again?_

_Choose wisely, child._

_"Okay…" Dakota said. She frowned. This was all so bizarre to her… but she had to follow whatever this dream decided to lead her. She took a few steps forward, trying to see which pillar to examine first. Walking over to the sword, the voice began talking once again…_

_These powers… if you give it a form, it shall give you strength…_

_Dakota looked around at the different weapons. As much as she wanted to take her sweet time thinking about her choices, she wanted to see what the rest of the dream held and get it over as quickly as possible… She wasn't in the mood for anything funny. She chose the sword and gave up the staff in return._

_The moment she stepped back from the pillar the staff was on, another rumble echoed as the pillars toppled to the side and sank into the floor, disappearing._

_"Okay. This is getting weird…" She muttered, looking around, frowning. She looked down at the stained glass, eyes widening a bit. One of the circles shimmered in a bright light. When the light disappeared, there was color to the circle, making it look odd against everything else that was still so blank..._

_We are running out of time…_

_"What?" Dakota asked, a bit surprised. "Really?" Had time passed by that quickly? She expected to be here longer oddly, that's how her dreams had been like lately..._

_Yes. The start of your journey approaches with each minute now. You must learn to fight on the length of your journey._

_"Well… I already know how to fight." Dakota said. "I don't need any training in fighting. Let's slip to the next part which is…?"_

_Some simple questions._

_A shimmer of light glowed on the opposite end of the area, a small table with several cards appeared where the light had vanished._

_These cards shall answer what questions I will ask and seek._

_"O...kay." Dakota frowned. This was all confusing her but she went with it anyway. She soon reached the table, looking at the cards curiously._

_"How are these going to answer any questions…?" Dakota shook her head. This was getting ridiculous._

_What is your deepest fear?_

_"Deepest fear…?" Dakota muttered. She picked up a card, slowly turning it over to see it… blank? What?_

_"Wh-" she frowned. "Why is it blank? Is-"_

_She paused, noticing something was going on with the card as her eyes widened. Some sort of dark… stuff- wait she recognized what it was actually. From her dreams. What was it? Darkness. That's right._

_It crept up from the bottom of the card until it was coating it entirely. It soon disappeared and an image was left behind on the card. The image had several people in it. Dakota recognized some of them near instantly. Riku, Kairi, Sora, her parents. Some others, they were strangers to her however. A girl with short black hair, a boy with blonde hair. A girl with blonde hair… there were a few others too._

_The background was dark, some sort of… well, she couldn't really tell._

_You're utterly petrified of losing those who've you've connected with once again. And… oh, how interesting…._

_The card suddenly shimmered in a bright light. When it faded, the image was replaced. It showed her, stuck somewhere alone. The surrounding area seemed to be entirely made of glass and was oddly dark. Dakota narrowed her eyes at the card, frowning._

_You are also petrified of being trapped. With no options of escaping, feeling worthless. Hopeless._

_"Okay, we don't need to look into every little detail about me." Dakota huffed, feeling a bit uncomfortable about this actually..._

_You're right. Time is of the essence currently._

_The card shimmered once again, disappearing in a small burst of light from Dakota's hand, making her flinch a bit._

_Now, what do you want out of life? Out of the journey you are about to embark on?_

_Dakota picked up another card, flipping it over to the blank side. The card shimmered with light and an image appeared on it. It showed a vast galaxy, several images of… what were these? She guessed they were… some sort of world from the way they looked. Maybe._

_You wish to explore all the worlds you can. To see what you've missed. To run free, it seems to be something your soul craves desperately._

_Dakota simply nodded and the card disappeared. She didn't like how she was being so dissected..._

_What is most important to you?_

_Dakota picked up another card, which she hopped was the last one. It shimmered with both darkness and light, which surprised her a bit. Soon an image appeared. The image was half and half. It showed the same people that were in the first card, smiling, happy and peaceful. They were having fun doing all sorts of activities in the first half. The other showed a multitude of colorful glass shards, and what appeared to be chains scattered about._

_You value your friends and families well being above your own. To keep your suffering locked away for their well being._

_Dakota frowned as the card disappeared. The table then disappeared as well._

_"Okay. So… apparently I'm scared of losing my friends, family and being completely alone. I care about exploring other worlds and… valuing everyone's happiness above my own?" Dakota frowned. This was odd._

_Looking down at the stained glass, she looked over at the circle that had color but something caught her eye. Casting her glance around, she jumped back, surprised. There was color to half of the area now! ...but the rest was still completely blank. The white clashed with the colors, soothing greys, light blues and tans. Almost like a beach…_

_"What the…" Dakota muttered, kneeling and reaching out, brushing her fingers against the glass._

_Everything is set. Your journey begins before the sun rises fully._

_Dakota ignored the voice, eyes narrowing and lips parted as if she was asking a question, brows furrowed._

_But… As a warning… darkness will constantly try and stop your goals…_

_That registered in her mind. Before she could actually ask a question, Dakota felt something on… her hand? She looked down, seeing a pool of darkness. Her eyes widened, a silent gasp as she tried to jump back, but her hand- it was stuck? It was- oh god it was sinking!_

_She felt panic rising in her chest and she attempted to yank herself free but nothing was working as her hand disappeared into the pool, then her arm- and her feet? When did it spread-_

_If you hold onto the fear, doubt, and hatred… you shall fall._

_Dakota struggled to move, trying to drag herself out. It was useless. She didn't know what this was but it was strong. She kept sinking more and more, soon her vision was nothing but the darkness._

\----X----

Dakota blinked her eyes open, confusion blanketing her as she sat up.

What was all of that…?

She fumbled for her journey, opening it up to a page she hadn't written and scribbled down what she could, pouring every detail she could remember as it quickly faded away just as soon as she thought to write it.

"The cards… card… darkness, the… glass. That. And…" She muttered to herself as she wrote for a few more seconds before stopping. She sighed, putting the pen down and rubbed her hand. Standing up from her bed, she made her way to the window and looked out. The sky was still dark mostly, the sun just very barely peeking over the horizon. Enough to tell the sun was rising, but not enough to wake anyone up if they weren't up already that is.

Reaching up, she ran her hands through her hair. She had to find out what these nightmares and dreams meant. It was probably a hopeless thought, but she couldn't take it anymore. Not after the one she just woke up from.

She had to find out.

Dakota began moving around her room as quietly as she could, gathering things and such. She needed to find out. She could do it on her own, no one to help her. Well- no. No. She was 15, she was old enough. She was sure it was a weekend, so everyone would be sleeping in.

At least she would be long gone when they found her room empty.

The sky was only beginning to be painted in the most early morning colors when Dakota finished getting dressed, a backpack slung over her shoulder. Making sure she had everything, she opened her window and climbed out landing on the ground below on her feet. She left her door unlocked, it was probably stupid, but leaving a note behind was better then them thinking she ran off and was never coming back.

Of course she was, wasn't she? She wasn't stupid. Her family loved her and everything, and they weren't cruel. She was going to miss them and wanted to return home one day.

She… Just had to find out.

\---X---

Knowing where things were, which oaths were busiest and which were empty at times was immensely helpful. Dakota walked slowly along a currently empty pathway of the larger island, bored mostly. The larger one housed more homes, some bigger than others, a bigger school and some shops here and there. She gazed upward, toward the sky. The sun was still up in the sky, but with the very faint pinks in the distance, she knew it was going to set soon.

"...maybe I should call it quits now…" Dakota muttered, chewing at her lip absentmindedly. It had been a day, or… maybe two since she left home. All this time she tried searching for clues and anything helpful to the mystery of her dreams but to no avail. The one she had last night was the craziest one she had ever since it all started.

Again, that dark beach. Something about a door kept being repeated over and over. A new kind of monster even showed up. Just trying to remember it now made her spine crawl.

"Excuse me, young lady?"

Dakota stopped in her tracks, turning her head to where the voice came from, seeing a woman sitting at a table, a stack of cards in front of her. She wore a long coat, the hood was up, her hair wasn't visible nor were her eyes. Her lips were curled up in a friendly smile.

"Uh…" Dakota looked around to see if the woman was instead addressing someone else. "...me?" She asked, pointing to herself.

"Yes, you." The woman said, nodding once. Dakota looked back and walked over. She was a bit curious on what all of this was.

"Uh, yes ma'am? What is it?" Dakota asked when she got close enough.

"I'm doing free fortune tellings today. All you have to do is pick a card and keep it with you." The woman smiled.

"Is that it?" Dakota asked, a bit disappointed as she was expecting more… and annoyed at how she let herself get so nervous for nothing.

"That's all." The woman nodded. "If you keep it on you, whatever shows up on the card comes true. Now, pick a card." She waved a hand over the stack of cards, her smile never wavering.

Dakota looked down at the stack of cards. Normally she wouldn't really do this, mostly cause she wasn't that superstitious unlike others around here. But what was the harm in a little bit of hope? She did need some type of reassurance she made the right decision or if she made the wrong-

Oh god she was acting like them. But… Still. It really wouldn't hurt her or anybody. She reached out, plucking a card off the stack and flipped it over. It… was blank?

"What?" Dakota asked, flipping the card many times over in her hand. But it remained blank each time. No pattern or anything. Just a simple border around the edges.

"Hey, is this some-" She looked up, annoyed before pausing, eyes widening a bit. The table and the woman were... gone..? Wait what?

"...What? Where did she go?!" Dakota looked around, trying to spot where the woman could have gone. She stood there for a few minutes before sipping the card into her pocket and continued her journey. She was now more confused than ever.

At night, she headed over to the play islands. It was the safest place for her to crash at night really since no one was here so late. As she tied down the boat, Dakota paused, frowning. Now that she thought of it, she never tried looking around here. She could never risk it in the morning or afternoon obviously, but maybe now it wouldn't hurt.

Walking slowly along, she stopped near the waterfall and simply listened to the rushing water before sitting down, looking up at the sky.

I should go back maybe. Maybe all of this is pointless? But… if I do, then these dreams might just keep happening. I have to find the source and end it or I'll go mad from these damned nightmares!

Dakota groaned lowly as she closed her eyes, trying to focus on the sounds of the waterfall. She was tired, and just wanted to find out what was going on. She felt like going to some doctor was useless, and anything else was probably not good either. She got injuries from these things!

Whatever was causing them, it wasn't good. Slowly opening her eyes, Dakota stood up, sighing heavily. Before she could do anything else, she heard a voice.

"What…?" Dakota whispered. She went quiet, moving away from the waterfall a bit and tried to hear it again.

_"The passage…"_

Okay what the fuck?

"Passage?" Dakota muttered, confused. This was a bit creepy, but at this point she was tired and would really take any clue she could get. Tired, irritable and just out of it was a terrible combo…

She didn't want to possibly end up with the worst nightmare to end all nightmares tonight…

She didn't waste time in looking around as it was too dark for her to really see anyway even with the moon out. She walked, following a path and slipped into a passageway. Having to crouch to enter kind of sucked but she continued until the ceiling went higher and she saw moonlight. Soon, she entered an area, the moonlight filtered in from small and growing cracks alike.

"The secret place…" Dakota muttered as she walked further inside, looking around. She moved to one of the walls, brushing a hand over an old drawing. Old, childish drawings covered many of the rocks around. A flutter of nostalgia crept up and she smiled, remembering being trusted enough to be shown this place and being so happy.

She wondered if any of her drawings survived the passage of time…

Her eyes landed on the old door, her smile faded as she let her hand slip and fall back to her side. She walked towards it, stopping in front of it.

"I always wondered what this door is and what it was for…" She said. "Wait a minute…"

Reaching into her pocket, she took out the card from earlier. She frowned, then her eyes widened. "Could… is it like the cards that were in my dream? But.." She flipped the card over multiple times in her hand, confused and a bit frustrated…

"How is this thing important and-"

"That card is a lot more important than you realize, you know." A voice said. Dakota stiffened, slowly turning around.

A woman stood there, wearing a black coat that Dakota noted was identical to the woman she saw earlier today. The mysterious woman's hood was down instead however, leaving her face visible. Her hair was a light auburn color, unruly curls ended at her shoulders.

"Who are you?" Dakota asked, on edge. Something about her smirk unsettled Dakota...

"Hey, don't worry. I'm not armed or anything." The woman said, holding her hands up, palms open and all. The smirk turned into a smile, eyes gentle.

Dakota tried to relax, not expecting anyone to suddenly show up or anything. "Again, who are you?" She asked.

"I'm a friend. Don't worry, okay." The woman smiled, light amber eyes twinkling just a bit. "I was just in the area and saw you come in here. I just wanna talk."

"...Sure… talk with a random stranger. What do you even need? And what do you mean by this?" Dakota held up the card, eyes narrowing slightly.

"I just came to give you a farewell is all. And that card there… well, it's the start of your fate. Your grand adventure!" The woman said, spreading her arms out in a wide gesture as her smile grew to show teeth.

"What? What are… you…?" Dakota trailed off, her eyes drifting to the card. Now that she thought about it, it looked somewhat similar to the ones she saw in her dream. Was this really the key to everything?

"How is it all connected?" Dakota asked as the card suddenly began glowing. Her eyes widened and she gasped quietly as darkness crept up from the bottom to the top of the card.

"Well, that was fast." The woman smirked.

"What?" Dakota looked up at her, frowning. The card slipped from her grasp, fluttering toward the floor before it stopped, suddenly floating towards the door instead. As soon as it got close to it, it disappeared in a dark flash, a similar one came from the door and the sound of it unlocking echoed through the area.

Wait...

"What…? It… it opened?" Dakota turned to the door, a bit stunned. How did it…? Did the card somehow do it? She stared at it as the door creaked open slowly.

"I never thought this door would ever open again." The woman laughed lightly, almost sounding joyful and giddy.

"Again…? What do you mean again?" Dakota asked, turning back towards the woman. She needed answers. She was getting confused and a bit angry at all the questions that were piling up and up!

"What the hell is going on! Who ARE you?!" Dakota nearly yelled, gritting her teeth. She didn't notice the door opening more and more until it was too late as she turned towards it.

Darkness began spilling out, clinging to anything around. The walls, ground, vines scattered around. She shielded her face with her arms, the sudden wind or whatever this was blowing everything harshly. She dug her feet into the sandy ground, trying to stay upright and keep herself from being blown away.

"I'm someone… you will get to know very well later on." The woman smiled, the sudden wind not even bothering her it seems as she suddenly rushed over, spinning Dakota around.

"What-?!" Dakota exclaimed, suddenly feeling her backpack gone?

"I think your journey will be quite interesting…" The woman first tossed her backpack into the open doorway, then suddenly struck.

"You-" Dakota didn't get to say anything else, getting cut off as she was suddenly falling backwards. A laugh, a shout and then a scream was all that was heard over the noise of the open doorway before it suddenly shut closed with a thud and a click.

**Author's Note:**

> It was 4am when this was finally posted. I need S L E E P FUCK


End file.
